1886 lebel advice???

[rayg]

Hi Ray. Yes,

She is completely matching. I need to take some fresh photos.

Fantastic....

Attachment 63702Attachment 63703

[CaptSimon]

Well, it finally arrived and i've taken apart partly, but so far ive found some good, some bad:
1. The pitting is there but shallow (based on patina, the pitting is at least 50-80 yrs old) its also been oiled by someone in the past, I only found 1 spot of fresh rust but it was very fresh and wiped right off.
2. The bore has no pitting or rust, in fact its in excellent condition.
3. The action is smooth and is in excellent shape( still have st strip the reciever and check but it all functions good, even the loading gate)
4. The only big issue is that the fore-end has two cracks at the muzzle end and either the magazine no longer has a spring or the spring has disintegrated with time (the pin holding the magazine in at the reciever is rusted in place)
5. The only thing not matching is the bolt body, the rest is numbers matching (what numbers are still legible)

I'll have some pics up later tonight but I have one question already, should I call out the seller since its not technically complete???

[Aragorn243]

The spring shouldn't be a big issue. There are repro/replacements out there and easy to get. Your call on calling the seller. I bought an old rifle that I felt was not listed accurately. I didn't pay a lot for it and I figured I got what I paid for and took a gamble on it so I didn't make a big deal of it. It was a $100 1891 Italian Carcano and I figure it was worth that even in the condition it was in. Bore was called dirty, he did call it a wall hanger. The bore was the worst I've ever seen. But he did call it a wall hanger. I guess you need to judge yours the same. A $7 spring a deal breaker?

Look forward to the photos.

[CaptSimon]

I haven't decided what to do seller wise, but the issue really isn't a spring (i have one found already through brownells), its the 3 cracks in the fore-end. It looks like there stress related, probably from the spring putting pressure on the end. Also, there's a dent part way down the right side which may be poking into the space itself. I pushed the piston in and now its disappeared into the fore-end. The pin holding magazine stop tube is also stuck and I've tried banging it out but i'm worried it might make the cracks worse or create new ones. Other than the pitting on the barrel, the rifles in pretty good shape.

Here are some pics illustrating the rifle and the cracksAttachment 63841Attachment 63850Attachment 63849Attachment 63848Attachment 63847Attachment 63846Attachment 63845Attachment 63844Attachment 63843Attachment 63840Attachment 63842Attachment 63851

[Aragorn243]

Probably just age cracks, not much pressure from that spring, even fully compressed. I've seen worse pitting, I own worse pitting.

[CaptSimon]

An update, I got the pin out and finally can see into the magazine well: the spring was in there but only 4 inches at the tube piston, the rest has become rust dust. I'm gonna fix the cracks (mostly to make them stable). I am curious about something, is it possible to modify the magazine tube to where its all encased in steel of similar thickness to the magazine piston stop tube? So instead of wood in the middle and metal at the ends, its more like a lever action musket, where its all metal and the stock is around it??

[Aragorn243]

Might be possible but no reason to do it. Plus it would be altering the originality of the rifle. A risk might be changing the diameter of the tube could change the way the cartridges line up putting the primers at risk if the bullet to the rear isn't seating in the ring around the primer. It does seem like an odd design but it lasted unchanged and in use for over 50 years in various militaries.

[CaptSimon]

Just a thought exersize. I could get a spring from here i guess but it costs more: Lebel (3) - A.A.S.

[Aragorn243]

I believe Numrich has them for $7.

[CaptSimon]

I know, i'm working on that. On another forum this was suggested as a substitute: http://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts...ku=550-401-395

Also does anyone have any suggestions for finding ammo at a reasonable price??? Mines reamed for ball N.